Sunday, May 2, 2010

Mr. Husband: "Yeah, you see my wife for Alzheimer's disease, and she had a seizure 2 weeks ago."

Dr. Grumpy: "Uh huh."

Mr. Husband: "Well, ya know, I was just thinking, she was maybe just a bit more alert for a few days after the seizure, not a lot, but maybe a little. Can I bring her in to your office and you can make her have another one?"

As others have said, maybe some ECT is in order. For the husband, that is.

And, I've got all the empathy in the world for those suffering from degenerative neurological diseases and the partners who act as their care-givers, as my father went down with the good ship USS Parkinson's Disease, and my mother (and I, to a lesser extent) were his care-givers.

I can't say I blame him for the suggestion at all. for someone with (I'm guessing) no medical education it seems like a good idea. I can understand why he would want his partner back even at the expense of a seizure.

Poor guy. Depending on just how much she improved, symptoms of depression, and her medical condition, I think people aren't far off in saying ECT may be worthwhile to consider. One complicated part of the picture is that this woman already seems to have a low seizure threshhold and balancing ECT in a person with a seizure disorder can be tricky.

Welcome to my whining!

This blog is entirely for entertainment purposes. All posts about patients may be fictional, or be my experience, or were submitted by a reader, or any combination of the above. Factual statements may or may not be accurate.

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